‘We got out of the blocks, they didn’t,’ says classy Canning
Prime among those responsible for the success was captain Ollie Canning at one end of the field, and man-of-the-match Kevin ‘Chunky’ Hayes at the other.
Said the skipper: “We got out of the blocks, they didn’t, and the two goals in the first half gave us a great cushion. If they had got the breaks, if the penalty before half-time had gone in, who knows? That could have given them the boost they needed, but thankfully it went over bar. Our forwards linked well, they took their scores, so we can have no complaint about the team performance.”
Hayes added: “That was one hell of a battle on the field — those boys hit us hard. We came out the right end of things eventually, and we’re delighted to be heading west with the cup again. There was never any question of complacency, we have good lads over us, they made sure we kept our feet on the ground. We knew they had talent, the likes of Bryan Phelan, Kevin Moran, John Mullane – these guys have played in an All-Ireland final, they’ve known big games. We spoke about this beforehand, you must treat every game like it’s your last — we might never be in Croke Park again. These are the days of our lives. Hopefully we’ll be back again!”
Who’s to say they won’t? Certainly not a subdued Owen Dunphy, De La Salle manager.
“There’s not much you can say. In fairness to Portumna they’re a fantastic side; in a few years people will probably be saying they’re the greatest team ever. Certainly they seem to be ahead of every club in the country at moment, I think no-one can deny that — look what did to Ballyhale a few weeks ago, and today they destroyed us.
“Still, we had a fantastic year; it was great for De La Salle to be here in Croke Park in our first All-Ireland final. We’re a developing side.”
While Portumna looked like they were running on auto-pilot yesterday, a well-oiled machine in which every moving part seemed to move in perfect synchronisation, they do in fact have a manager, and Johnny Kelly can look with satisfaction on this latest achievement by his team.
“It was always going to be a challenge to perform today, the favourite’s tag we got after beating Ballyhale was huge, but we’ve learned to deal with that kind of pressure after the last few years in Galway,’’ he said. “We concentrate on the hurling aspects, try to bring what we had done in training onto the field, and that worked out great for us today.”
It’s all made a bit easier, of course, when you have forwards of the talent of Joe Canning and Damien Hayes – to name but two – in your forward line.
“Joe and Damien are two exceptional forwards, and given the right supply of ball they will really do damage, and they did that today; both will admit, though, that it’s all about the club, it’s all about where you’re from.
“Spirit has a lot to do with this, club spirit; the GAA is celebrating 125 years but we suffered for so long inside our own county.
“Others will now decide whether we’re a good club, and if they do, great, if they don’t — we’ll still come as good as we can next year again.”
Well John, no, not a bad club, not a good club; on this evidence, on the evidence of the last four years, a great club, truly great.
Question is, though, John, – how come Galway, who have now gone clear at the top of the honour roll, do so well in the All-Ireland club championship, but struggle so at inter-county level? I mean, Portumna are already favourites to win this title next year, but there’s no guarantee they’ll even come out of Galway.
“The Galway championship is notoriously difficult, and anyone who has played there down the years — as I’ve done — knows that.
“There are good quality teams there, and hopefully now the spirit will come back to Galway. It’s a matter of bonding; it’s in the clubs,
“Athenry have great spirit, Sars have it, we have it; if you can harness that at county level, we can drive on from there.”
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